In Vivo Evaluation of Indium-111-Labeled 800CW as a Necrosis-Avid Contrast Agent.

Current clinical measurements for tumor treatment efficiency rely often on changes in tumor volume measured as shrinkage by CT or MRI, which become apparent after multiple lines of treatment and pose a physical and psychological burden on the patient. Detection of therapy-induced cell death in the tumor can be a fast measure for treatment efficiency. However, there are no reliable clinical tools for detection of tumor necrosis. Previously, we studied the necrosis avidity of cyanine-based fluorescent dyes, which suffered long circulation times before tumor necrosis could be imaged due to low hydrophilicity. We now present the application of radiolabeled 800CW, a commercially available cyanine with high hydrophilicity, to image tumor necrosis in a mouse model. We conjugated 800CW to DOTA via a PEG linker, for labeling with single-photon emission-computed tomography isotope indium-111, yielding [ <sup>111</sup> In]In-DOTA-PEG <sub>4</sub> -800CW. We then investigated specific [ <sup>111</sup> In]In-DOTA-PEG <sub>4</sub> -800CW uptake by dead cells in vitro, using both fluorescence and radioactivity as detection modalities. Finally, we investigated [ <sup>111</sup> In]In-DOTA-PEG <sub>4</sub> -800CW uptake into necrotic tumor regions of a 4T1 breast tumor model in mice. We successfully prepared a precursor and developed a reliable procedure for labeling 800CW with indium-111. We detected specific [ <sup>111</sup> In]In-DOTA-PEG <sub>4</sub> -800CW uptake by dead cells, using both fluorescence and radioactivity. Albeit with a tumor uptake of only 0.37%ID/g at 6 h post injection, we were able to image tumor necrosis with a tumor to background ratio of 7:4. Fluorescence and radioactivity in cryosections from the dissected tumors were colocalized with tumor necrosis, confirmed by TUNEL staining. [ <sup>111</sup> In]In-DOTA-PEG <sub>4</sub> -800CW can be used to image tumor necrosis in vitro and in vivo. Further research will elucidate the application of [ <sup>111</sup> In]In-DOTA-PEG <sub>4</sub> -800CW or other radiolabeled hydrophilic cyanines for the detection of necrosis caused by chemotherapy or other anti-cancer therapies. This can provide valuable prognostic information in treatment of solid tumors

Necrosis binding of Ac-Lys⁰(IRDye800CW)-Tyr³-octreotate: a consequence from cyanine-labeling of small molecules.

There is a growing body of nuclear contrast agents that are repurposed for fluorescence-guided surgery. New contrast agents are obtained by substituting the radioactive tag with, or adding a fluorescent cyanine to the molecular structure of antibodies or peptides. This enables intra-operative fluorescent detection of cancerous tissue, leading to more complete tumor resection. However, these fluorescent cyanines can have a remarkable influence on pharmacokinetics and tumor uptake, especially when labeled to smaller targeting vectors such as peptides. Here we demonstrate the effect of cyanine-mediated dead cell-binding of Ac-Lys <sup>0</sup> (IRDye800CW)-Tyr <sup>3</sup> -octreotate (800CW-TATE) and how this can be used as an advantage for fluorescence-guided surgery. Binding of 800CW-TATE could be blocked with DOTA <sup>0</sup> -Tyr <sup>3</sup> -octreotate (DOTA-TATE) on cultured SSTR <sub>2</sub> -positive U2OS cells and was absent in SSTR <sub>2</sub> negative U2OS cells. However, strong binding was observed to dead cells, which could not be blocked with DOTA-TATE and was also present in dead SSTR <sub>2</sub> negative cells. No SSTR <sub>2</sub> -mediated binding was observed in frozen tumor sections, possibly due to disruption of the cells in the process of sectioning the tissue before exposure to the contrast agent. DOTA-TATE blocking resulted in an incomplete reduction of 61.5 ± 5.8% fluorescence uptake by NCI-H69-tumors in mice. Near-infrared imaging and dead cell staining on paraffin sections from resected tumors revealed that fluorescence uptake persisted in necrotic regions upon blocking with DOTA-TATE. This study shows that labeling peptides with cyanines can result in dead cell binding. This does not hamper the ultimate purpose of fluorescence-guided surgery, as necrotic tissue appears in most solid tumors. Hence, the necrosis binding can increase the overall tumor uptake. Moreover, necrotic tissue should be removed as much as possible: it cannot be salvaged, causes inflammation, and is tumorigenic. However, when performing binding experiments to cells with disrupted membrane integrity, which is routinely done with nuclear probes, this dead cell-binding can resemble non-specific binding. This study will benefit the development of fluorescent contrast agents

Next-generation text-mining mediated generation of chemical response-specific gene sets for interpretation of gene expression data

Background: Availability of chemical response-specific lists of genes (gene sets) for pharmacological and/or toxic effect prediction for compounds is limited. We hypothesize that more gene sets can be created by next-generation text mining (next-gen TM), and that these can be used with gene set analysis (GSA) methods for chemical treatment identification, for pharmacological mechanism elucidation, and for comparing compound toxicity profiles. Methods. We created 30,211 chemical response-specific gene sets for human and mouse by next-gen TM, and derived 1,189 (human) and 588 (mouse) gene sets from the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD). We tested for significant differential expression (SDE) (false discovery rate -corrected p-values < 0.05) of the next-gen TM-derived gene sets and the CTD-derived gene sets in gene expression (GE) data sets of five chemicals (from experimental models). We tested for SDE of gene sets for six fibrates in a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARA) knock-out GE dataset and compared to results from the Connectivity Map. We tested for SDE of 319 next-gen TM-derived gene sets for environmental toxicants in three GE data sets of triazoles, and tested for SDE of 442 gene sets associated with embryonic structures. We compared the gene sets to triazole effects seen in the Whole Embryo Culture (WEC), and used principal component analysis (PCA) to discriminate triazoles from other chemicals. Results: Next-gen TM-derived gene sets matching the chemical treatment were significantly altered in three GE data sets, and the corresponding CTD-derived gene sets were significantly altered in five GE data sets. Six next-gen TM-derived and four CTD-derived fibrate gene sets were significantly altered in the PPARA knock-out GE dataset. None of the fibrate signatures in cMap scored significant against the PPARA GE signature. 33 environmental toxicant gene sets were significantly altered in the triazole GE data sets. 21 of these toxicants had a similar toxicity pattern as the triazoles. We confirmed embryotoxic effects, and discriminated triazoles from other chemicals. Conclusions: Gene set analysis with next-gen TM-derived chemical response-specific gene sets is a scalable method for identifying similarities in gene responses to other chemicals, from which one may infer potential mode of action and/or toxic effect

Dark matter and sub-GeV hidden U(1) in GMSB models

Motivated by the recent PAMELA and ATIC data, one is led to a scenario with heavy vector-like dark matter in association with a hidden $U(1)_X$ sector below GeV scale. Realizing this idea in the context of gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking (GMSB), a heavy scalar component charged under $U(1)_X$ is found to be a good dark matter candidate which can be searched for direct scattering mediated by the Higgs boson and/or by the hidden gauge boson. The latter turns out to put a stringent bound on the kinetic mixing parameter between $U(1)_X$ and $U(1)_Y$: $\theta \lesssim 10^{-6}$. For the typical range of model parameters, we find that the decay rates of the ordinary lightest neutralino into hidden gauge boson/gaugino and photon/gravitino are comparable, and the former decay mode leaves displaced vertices of lepton pairs and missing energy with distinctive length scale larger than 20 cm for invariant lepton pair mass below 0.5 GeV. An unsatisfactory aspect of our model is that the Sommerfeld effect cannot raise the galactic dark matter annihilation by more than 60 times for the dark matter mass below TeV.Comment: 1+15 pages, 4 figures, version published in JCAP, references added, minor change

Predictors of short-term successful discontinuation of continuous renal replacement therapy: results from a prospective multicentre study

Background Prediction of successful discontinuation of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) might reduce complications of over- and under-treatment. The aim of this study was to identify renal and non-renal predictors of short-term successful discontinuation of CRRT in patients in whom CRRT was stopped because renal recovery was expected and who were still in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at day 2 after stop CRRT. Methods Prospective multicentre observational study in 92 patients alive after discontinuation of CRRT for acute kidney injury (AKI), still in the ICU and free from renal replacement therapy (RRT) at day 2 after discontinuation. Successful discontinuation was defined as alive and free from RRT at day 7 after stop CRRT. Urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and clinical variables were collected. Logistic regression and Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were performed to determine the best predictive and discriminative variables. Results Discontinuation of CRRT was successful in 61/92 patients (66%). Patients with successful discontinuation of CRRT had higher day 2 urine output, better renal function indicated by higher creatinine clearance (6-h) or lower creatinine ratio (day 2/day 0), less often vasopressors, lower urinary NGAL, shorter duration of CRRT and lower cumulative fluid balance (day 0–2). In multivariate analysis renal function determined by creatinine clearance (Odds Ratio (OR) 1.066, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.022–1.111, p = 0.003) or by creatinine ratio (day 2/day 0) (OR 0.149, 95% CI 0.037–0.583, p = 0.006) and non-renal sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score (OR 0.822, 95% CI 0.678–0.996, p = 0.045) were independently associated with successful discontinuation of CRRT. The area under the curve of creatinine clearance to predict su

Large enhancement of deuteron polarization with frequency modulated microwaves

We report a large enhancement of 1.7 in deuteron polarization up to values of 0.6 due to frequency modulation of the polarizing microwaves in a two liters polarized target using the method of dynamic nuclear polarization. This target was used during a deep inelastic polarized muon-deuteron scattering experiment at CERN. Measurements of the electron paramagnetic resonance absorption spectra show that frequency modulation gives rise to additional microwave absorption in the spectral wings. Although these results are not understood theoretically, they may provide a useful testing ground for the deeper understanding of dynamic nuclear polarization.Comment: 10 pages, including the figures coming in uuencoded compressed tar files in poltar.uu, which also brings cernart.sty and crna12.sty files neede

Measurement of the p-pbar -> Wgamma + X cross section at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV and WWgamma anomalous coupling limits

The WWgamma triple gauge boson coupling parameters are studied using p-pbar -> l nu gamma + X (l = e,mu) events at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV. The data were collected with the DO detector from an integrated luminosity of 162 pb^{-1} delivered by the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. The cross section times branching fraction for p-pbar -> W(gamma) + X -> l nu gamma + X with E_T^{gamma} > 8 GeV and Delta R_{l gamma} > 0.7 is 14.8 +/- 1.6 (stat) +/- 1.0 (syst) +/- 1.0 (lum) pb. The one-dimensional 95% confidence level limits on anomalous couplings are -0.88 < Delta kappa_{gamma} < 0.96 and -0.20 < lambda_{gamma} < 0.20.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. D Rapid Communication

Measurement of the ttbar Production Cross Section in ppbar Collisions at sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV using Kinematic Characteristics of Lepton + Jets Events

We present a measurement of the top quark pair ttbar production cross section in ppbar collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV using 230 pb**{-1} of data collected by the DO detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. We select events with one charged lepton (electron or muon), large missing transverse energy, and at least four jets, and extract the ttbar content of the sample based on the kinematic characteristics of the events. For a top quark mass of 175 GeV, we measure sigma(ttbar) = 6.7 {+1.4-1.3} (stat) {+1.6- 1.1} (syst) +/-0.4 (lumi) pb, in good agreement with the standard model prediction.Comment: submitted to Phys.Rev.Let

Measurement of the ttbar Production Cross Section in ppbar Collisions at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV using Lepton + Jets Events with Lifetime b-tagging

We present a measurement of the top quark pair ($t\bar{t}$) production cross section ($\sigma_{t\bar{t}}$) in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=1.96$ TeV using 230 pb$^{-1}$ of data collected by the D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. We select events with one charged lepton (electron or muon), missing transverse energy, and jets in the final state. We employ lifetime-based b-jet identification techniques to further enhance the $t\bar{t}$ purity of the selected sample. For a top quark mass of 175 GeV, we measure $\sigma_{t\bar{t}}=8.6^{+1.6}_{-1.5}(stat.+syst.)\pm 0.6(lumi.)$ pb, in agreement with the standard model expectation.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables Submitted to Phys.Rev.Let